1809	British and French Fleets	118

her off the shoal, or even to see that the fire, which had been put to the ship in two places, had begun to take effect. Observing at daylight from Pointe des Barques, where he and his crew had landed, that the Tourville had neither suffered by fire from without, nor from within, and that the British line-of-battle ships and frigates were getting under way to return to Basque roads, Captain Lacaille prepared to go back to his ship. In about two hours after he had quitted her, he was again on board with, including three boats' crews that had returned from doing duty on board the Océan, about 230 officers and men, out of a crew of at least 660.

The French captain now learnt that, during his absence, a single British boat would have captured the Tourville, had it not been for the prowess of one of her quartermasters, who, unknown to M. Lacaille, had remained in the ship. We are unable to state what ship's boat it was that so nearly made a prize of a French 74 ; for, certainly, had the officer been aware of the abandoned state of the Tourville, a resolute attack must have been crowned with success. The following is a summary of the French quartermaster's story : His name was Eugene-Joseph Romain Bourgeois, and his age 31 years. Being resolved to stand by his ship to the last, he crept from the boat into which he had been ordered to embark, unperceived, through one of the Tourville's lowerdeck ports. As soon as the boats had all pushed off, he began constructing a raft, in case the two supposed fire-vessels should grapple the Tourville; or that the fire, which had been put to the ship in two places, should take effect. He had just completed his raft, when an enemy's boat approached the Tourville. He hailed the boat twice ; and, receiving no reply, fired off the musket which the sentry at the gangway had in his haste thrown down. The boat returned the fire ; but the intrepid Bourgeois was not to be so daunted : he ran to the captain's cabin, and, taking an armful of muskets from the rack, discharged 20 of them in quick succession. This had the desired effect, and the boat pulled away. After he had been on board about an hour, he discovered, lying on the lower deck, three of his shipmates, drunk and insensible. Shortly afterwards three of the Tourville's boats arrived from on board the Oc�an; and a young midshipman-volunteer (aspirant de premi�re classe), named Marinier, took the command of the 30 men now present, and made suitable preparations for defending the ship : indeed, every man of this little band is represented to have sworn to defend the Tourville to the utmost of his power.

At 5 a.m., agreeably to a signal made by Rear-admiral Stopford, Captain Bligh got under way with the Valiant, Theseus, and Revenge, and was followed by the Indefatigable, Unicorn, Aigle, and Emerald. While the Imp�rieuse in her way to the anchorage she was about to take up, was passing within hail of the Indefatigable, Lord Cochrane proposed to Captain Rodd that, if the Indefatigable would go on one quarter of the Oc�an